Weekend Wrap-Up / Thanksgiving Travels

Remember that re-cap I promised on Saturday? Well, here we go! Are you ready for a crazy wonderful ride?

I have been looking forward to the “Thanksgiving week” on my calendar for months. It was a packed full week, but filled with every exciting thing you could imagine: a surprise birthday party for my Grandma, my little sister Ellen’s first bridal shower, time with Derrick’s family, good Thanksgiving food, visiting some of Derrick’s old friends, and the cherry on top was one of Derrick’s best friends’ wedding! It was going to be a whirlwind, but I was so excited for it! I mean, how could you not be?

Our week started on Monday at Rodney’s Restaurant in Irwin, PA for a surprise birthday party! The day before Thanksgiving this year was Meme’s 80th birthday, so we decided to scare the crap out of her by throwing her a surprise party. Okay, that sounds a little harsh, but does it strike anyone else as comical that we decided to “surprise” my 80 year old Grandmother? The surprise went off without a hitch though (thanks to Zeb & Emilie) and we had a fabulous evening celebrating & eating good food!

Surprise Birthday Party at Rodney's in Irwin, PA

Tuesday morning dawned & thus began our travels of the week! My Mom, Amy, Emma, Ruby, Braelynn, and I left Tuesday morning to travel up to Derrick & I’s old stomping grounds: Sayre, PA! It’s a long & crazy story, but believe it or not: Ellen’s fiance Jonathan, has family that lives about 20 minutes from where Derrick & I used to live! How crazy is that?! They were all gathering for Thanksgiving & wanted to celebrate Ellen & Jonathan’s upcoming wedding, so they hosted a small bridal shower for Ellen on Wednesday. We rode up Tuesday, my Mom & sisters stayed in a hotel, and Braelynn & I stayed with Derrick’s parents. We were able to sneak in about 45 minutes of swimming when they checked into their hotel and Braelynn loved that!

Thanksgiving weekend in NY to visit family

Grumpy face – “why do we have to get out Mom?!”

Wednesday was Ellen’s first bridal shower & it was perfect! Jonathan’s family pulled together the most elegant & beautiful Sherlock themed shower & we loved being a part of it! The details of the shower were so lovely, they deserve their own blog post, so here is a little sneak peek, but I want to post a whole blog about the shower in the coming days! So, stay tuned!

The sisters (& coincidentally we make up Ellen’s bridesmaids & flower girl!)

Who knew that bridal shower-ing could be so exhausting?

So, on Wednesday, as my Mom & sisters left to go home, Derrick was leaving home to drive up!
Thursday morning dawned & we did something we have never ever done on a Thanksgiving morning before – we went swimming! Derrick’s parents have a gym membership with pool access, so instead of zoning out in front of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (the usual tradition) we went swimming! Swimming twice in the middle of November? Yes, please!

Then it was on to the good stuff – Thanksgiving dinner!

This is Paul & Naomi’s puppy Rosie – she’s so sweet!

Whew – rough hair!

Friday morning, we woke up & hit the road again, this time heading further north up into New York state. First stop was a visit with Derrick’s Grandparents! Braelynn loved that they already had their Christmas decorations up!

She also loved the chocolate/peanut butter pie they gave her!

Derrick’s Grandparents’ health hasn’t been the greatest over the last few months, so it was really nice to see them, in their home (Grandpa Abbey was in the hospital & a nursing home for several weeks) and have some time to visit!

From there, it was on to wedding prep! We rode out to the mall to pick up Derrick’s tux and do a little late Black Friday shopping with the groom.
Wondering how to sell tuxes? Put a cute baby in the window!

We wondered into a Barnes & Noble, which was probably a bad idea (for both Braelynn & I)

Braelynn loves books, but she loves fluffies more! So, as soon as she realized there was a tower of stuffed animals right around the corner, that’s where she hung out the rest of our time at Barnes & Noble!

We stayed in a hotel Friday & Saturday night & Braelynn thought it was the best. How does this kid instinctively know to put the phone to her ear & talk to it (especially since we don’t have a landline!)

Saturday was Jake & Hayley’s wedding day! Braelynn usually sits really well (she’s been doing better & better in church on Sundays) but for some reason, she was not in the mood for sitting still and being quiet for the wedding ceremony. Of course. So, we spent the ceremony in the entryway, peeking in the door to watch the ceremony.

Of course, as soon as the ceremony was over & they started into family formals, then she wanted to sit & watch what was happening.

The reception was at The Columns in Elma, NY & it was a gorgeous reception venue! The large entry was all decorated for Christmas & of course, Braelynn loved that!

We are the very first names!

All I wanted was one decent photo of Braelynn all dressed up with her Daddy all dressed up. And every time we attempted that – we got the bottom right photo – Braelynn crying.

She kept saying she wanted to go “Night Night” on this chair.

Dinner! Delicious!

As much as Braelynn loved the lights in the lobby, she loved the dance floor more! Even late into the evening when she was too tired to actually dance, she just wanted to lay on the dance floor – what a crazy kid!